Unearthing the Agony
by AWildMadAppears
Summary: This is a whole lot of one-shots (or two-shots) telling various POV's of my other story The Agony Inside. There may also be a few unconnected one-shots in here. Who knows ;)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm back! This story is going to be a whole lot of Hurt/Comfort one-shots or two-shots about Percy (either being comforted or doing the comforting.) Most of them will connect to my other story, The Agony Inside, but I will take requests if anybody has an idea they want written down. Anyways, on with the story. **

Jason's POV

The loud thunk of the door slamming behind me echoed through the eerily silent room as I turned to stare at the equally-as-terrified-as-me cabin counsellors. After several moments of silence, listening to the roar of the crowd outside, Clarisse spoke up.

"What. The. Hell." She growled, glaring at me as if I had personally insulted her.

"Don't look at me like that. It's not my fault YOUR new camper has riled everyone else into a riot." I snapped, my stress getting the better of me.

"Well you are the leader here at the moment. You are supposed to keep this from happening." Clarisse jabbed me in the chest before moving off the peak out the window of the Big House.

That comment struck home. I know I am respected around Camp Half-Blood, just as I am around Camp Jupiter, but I will never be truly accepted as a leader anymore. To the Greeks I am a Roman and to the Romans I'm a traitor. And for someone that has led all my life, it was kinda hard to get used to.

I was jarred out of my thoughts by a flurry of banging at the door. Everyone in the room jumped.

"Guys, fighting isn't going to do anything. We need to get them to listen to us." Katie intervened, throwing me a glance in apology.

After another moment of silence we realised we had no idea what we were supposed to do. Figures.

"Stuff this, we're out of here." Travis said, pulling his brother behind him.

"Ah, I wouldn't…" I began, but they were already out the window and trying to get past the group that had congregated on the porch.

"There they are!" Someone yelled and we could hear a loud curse from the brothers before they were forced to run. It wasn't long before they were swamped by the masses of new campers.

Leo moved over to the window and winced at the obvious beating the brothers were getting.

"Ouch. Ok, this is getting dangerous. I agree with Katie. We need to get them to listen to us."

"That's the problem though. They won't." Clarisse snapped, getting more and more agitated by the minute.

"Well, is there anyone who we would all listen to?" Piper asked in desperation, sinking down in one of the chairs.

"Chiron is off with his family at the moment so no." Clarisse said, her voice oozing with distaste.

But I wasn't listening. I had stopped after Piper had spoken, realising that, yes, there was someone we could call.

I carefully slipped into another room and found everything I needed to make a rainbow.

"O' Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show me Percy Jackson, Manhattan." It took a few seconds but eventually I was looking at the back of Percy's head, planning how to plead my case.

"Percy!" I almost yelled, relieved that I could see him.

_Wow, I must be getting pretty desperate._

"Hey Jace," he frowned at me, cocking his head to one side. "What's wrong?"

"You know that Annabeth is at Camp Jupiter at the moment, yeah." He nodded slowly, as if he was confused.

"Yeah, what's happened?" He demanded, still frowning.

"They have gone crazy, that's what! All of the newbies are bowing down to the newest of all newbies because he killed a Hellhound and they won't listen to any of us. Would you please be able to come down for the weekend and help me control them?" I rushed out, almost clasping my hands together but refusing to look more desperate than I already did. There was a sudden banging at the door and I could hear yelling through it.

_Oh shit, they got in._

For a moment Percy was quiet, looking behind him at what seemed to be a desk. In that moment I felt guilty for even thinking of calling Percy. His hair was messier than usual and there were obvious bags under his eyes. He looked worn down.

Before I could retract my plea, he turned back to me and nodded.

"I'll be there in a minute." He promised and swiped through the message.

Quickly making another rainbow I contacted the brothers that had somehow managed to escape the throngs of children.

"Percy's on his way." Was all I said and I received two nods in return.

I turned around and barged through the door back into the room where the Cabin Counsellors were trying desperately to hold back the crowd.

"EVERYBODY OUT!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, somehow managing to scare them all. The crowd grumbled but filed back out anyway, back to where they originally stood in front of the porch where they immediately resumed yelling. The rest of us stood up on the porch, desperately trying to calm them all down.

"Everybody calm down." I yelled over the crowd, gaining their attention.

"No! Your so-called training is teaching us nothing. You are just using it as an excuse to beat us up. We don't need all this training to kill monsters! All we need is a sword!" Lawrence, the ring leader, stood out, rallying them even further.

I turned to the others, desperation clear, when we all heard a different voice hush that of the crowd.

"And what if you don't have a sword?" Percy's voice drifted over to us, loud and clear, making Lawrence stop where he stood. "What do you do then?"

My relief overpowered any other feeling that I could have been feeling at that moment. In person, Percy looked even worse. His skin was abnormally pale, the bags were more pronounced and over all he just looked sick. But with the confidence he was showing and the power that radiated from him, I don't think anyone could tell other than me.

"And what if you have a bow and arrow? Will you know how to aim?" He continued, parting the crowd as he walked through. "Oh! And how will you cope if the monster can use a weapon as well? Or is stronger than you? Or faster than you? Now that you think about it, I'm sure you find that nothing these people are teaching you is useless."

He had reached us by this point. Looking around I could see everyone was relieved to have their leader back, standing where he should be.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Lawrence yelled, advancing another step towards us. Sick of his attitude I decided to shut him up.

"He is the leader of this camp." I answered clearly. I saw Percy jump a little at that, as if he wasn't expecting it.

_That's strange. I'll talk to him about that later._

"So he's the one we should blame for this training." The young boy sneered, once again advancing on us.

"This training is a lot easier than when I first came here. It is hard to protect us, because there is no way we would live outside the borders without it." Percy answered flawlessly.

"Well that is going to change. I am going to start my own training."

"No you're not. You are going to listen to your cabin counsellor-"

"I can do what I want. I'm 12."

Percy groaned. I think everyone on that porch was face palming at some point or other during this conversation.

"Shut up and go to bed will you. Its way past bed time and you'll need sleep before your sword fighting class tomorrow."

"I don't have sword fighting class tomorrow."

"You do now."

By this point I think everyone was confused. Percy then turned to us and asked us if he could borrow the campers for the next morning. Unsurprisingly everyone agreed.

"Everyone to bed." He ordered, effectively scattering the crowd. All the counsellors began filing off the porch, heading to bed themselves. As I walked past Percy as the last to leave the porch, I pulled him into a quick hug, trying to convey everything at once.

_Thank you for coming. Thank you for helping. I'm sorry I needed to call on you again. You don't deserve it. Thank you for being here when you obviously have something else you need to do._

Instead of saying all of that, I simply whispered "Thank you."

**PJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJO**

The next morning I watched the Poseidon table like a hawk. Percy hadn't shown up when breakfast started and it seemed like he wasn't going to show up at all.

_He did look tired last night…_

Sighing, I looked back to my food, poking at the now cold scrambled eggs.

For some reason I felt so ashamed. I couldn't keep any control here and I broke everyone's trust in me. Both Annabeth and Percy trusted me with taking care of the place in their absence and yet I couldn't do anything right. If fact I had to call one of them back because I couldn't handle it. I should have been stronger, more confident.

_I shouldn't have put more stress onto Percy._

I was startled out of my thoughts by said person suddenly appearing on his table, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"ALL NEW CAMPERS WITH ME! YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! EVERYONE ELSE HAS FREE TIME UNTIL LUNCH!"

"Wow dude. Drugs for breakfast?" Leo called from his seat.

"Nope. 15 Red Bulls. I'm never going to sleep again." Percy had replied before charging to the arena, followed by a herd of unenthusiastic campers.

My eyes followed him until he was out of sight before slowly moving to where Leo was now getting up and moving over to me.

"I like Red Bull as much as the next person but even I know that is not healthy." He muttered when he reached me.

I nodded and stood, forgetting about my half eaten breakfast.

"We need to keep an eye on him." I looked briefly looked over to Leo before heading off to the arena myself. "We don't want anything to happen to him."

So we spent our free time crouched in the stands of the arena, watching Percy train the children in a ruthless and quite entertaining way.

"He shouldn't be training that hard. Not with that head injury." Leo whispered to me, showing his concerned side.

I thought back to a week ago. We had been at Percy's house when a small bump had brought tonnes of blood gushing out of his head.

Wincing, I replied, "I know what you mean but I think that should have healed by now."

Leo sighed and began to tinker with something he pulled out of his belt.

By lunch time Percy looked just as drained as the other kids, but he was covering it up with jokes.

Leo and I snuck out of the arena and headed to the dining hall. We sat there waiting for Percy to arrive with his horde of tired campers.

He called something out to them as they collapsed in a heap in front of their tables, laughing as he did.

When he sat down at his table, his head dropped into his hands and I got up to talk to him. Deciding on my approach, I carefully slapped him on the back, sitting down next to him.

"Hey Perce. How hard did you work them? They look like they want to kill you but can't quite manage the energy." I chuckled, scanning what I could see of him for any injuries they may have inflicted upon him. I know, I know, I was watching him the whole time, but I just wanted to be sure.

"Let's just say they may not want to get out of bed tomorrow." He muttered, slowly lifting his head to face me. Up close his face was even paler than I thought. There was a fine layer of sweat coating his face, making it look like he was sick. The bags under his eyes were an even deeper purple and his back was slouched, almost as if he wanted to just curl in on himself.

"Are you okay dude?" I frowned, touching his shoulder.

"Yeah, just a headache. I think I'll go lie down." He said weakly, standing up.

When he stood up, I could see his eyes becoming unfocused and his body swayed dangerously, before he simply collapsed.

"Percy!" My arms instinctively reached under him, catching him and lowering him gently to the ground. For a few moments I could hear nothing apart from my breathing and thankfully the breathing of the boy in my arms. A second later the noise gradually grew in volume until I was aware that everyone was surrounding us, closing in.

"Stop it! Everyone just stop it." I yelled over them all and I was surprised when they all became silent. Not letting that distract me, I continued talking to them, although I never looked up from Percy. "Everybody back up. Counsellors, take your campers back to your cabins or organise an activity if you want, just get everybody out of here."

I received nods from all of the Counsellors and they quickly filed everyone out. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Piper, Leo and Will all talking to their second in commands before rushing over to me.

Will kneeled next to me and began to check over Percy without speaking a word. Leo stood next to us, almost acting as a guard and Piper was kneeling with her head on my shoulder, stroking Percy's hair.

Eventually Will spoke up.

"I think I know what is wrong but I think we should move him first. Would you be able to carry him?" He directed his question towards me.

Without a word, I scooped Percy up and began to stride towards the infirmary. Will ran in front to set up a bed and Piper and Leo walked in front of me, acting like body guards.

"Well well well, look at the so-called leader now." We heard Lawrence yell out from behind us.

"Go to your cabin Sanderson." Leo growled out in an uncharacteristic manner, worry getting the best of him.

"I don't have to listen to you. And don't treat me like a child." The boy sneered and my vision seemed to turn red.

Pausing, I turned around and glared at the younger boy.

"Until you earn our trust and respect around here, you will be treated like a child. Everyone here has equal parts to play but if we want to get along, you have to listen to those who know what they are doing. I know you killed a Hellhound and that is a massive achievement for someone who isn't experienced but you have to know that you scared the absolute shit out of us by even taking that thing on. Now you listen to Leo and everyone else or so help me I will find a way to ground you." I was breathing heavily after my speech and to my surprise he actually listened to me.

Turning back around, I rushed the boy in my arms to the infirmary and impatiently waited for Will to tell us what was wrong.

" Well, guys, it seems he is absolutely fine." Will sighed, plopping into a seat next to the bed.

"What? That can't be right." Piper exclaimed, grasping Percy's hand.

"It is. He has a slight cold but that is the extent of it. The reason he passed out is because of exhaustion."

"Meaning what exactly?" Leo asked, leaning next to the bed.

"When our bodies do not get enough sleep, our bodies may force sleep onto us, making us pass out."

"So, he hasn't been sleeping?" I asked, although I already knew the answer. Why else would someone need 15 Red Bulls?

For the rest of the day and most of the night, Leo, Piper and I sat worriedly by the bed, waiting for him to wake up.

I felt awful. I almost wished I could have said: "I should've seen it." But I couldn't, because I did see it. I saw it and I didn't do anything. Not only did that make me a horrible leader but also a terrible friend. And in that moment I promised myself something.

_No matter what, I will make this up to him. He will never have to feel like this again._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ok, so this chapter is a request from the lovely **_**daughter of percabeth1999 **_**who requested that I write a chapter on the Seven finding out about the abuse that Percy was exposed to by Smelly Gabe. I have always wanted to write something like this but I have never put it into action. Also I didn't think I could do this justice. But I'll try.**

**WARNING: There will be mentions and descriptions of abuse in this chapter, if that wasn't clear. If you are uncomfortable with reading stuff like this I suggest you skip over this chapter. I don't want anyone feeling uncomfortable.**

**Ok, here we go.**

_**Percy POV**_

I woke up shaking and sweating, trying to find my bearings again. The soft trickling of the fountain in the corner helped me remember I wasn't a scared little eight year old anymore, and that there was no more Gabe to have reason for the terror that was paralysing my body.

I have visited him once. The statue, I mean, and it still terrifies me. You can still see every single detail of his monstrous being and the sickening grin that is now forever plastered to his face. It's the grin that scares me the most, I guess. I had seen it so many times, coming towards me with the promise of pain, that it is imprinted in my mind to be mindlessly frightened whenever I see it.

It's the only thing that haunts me now. My usual Tartarus nightmares lessened thanks to the constant support of my friends. And by 'constant support' I mean they made me sit down for an entire afternoon and tell them everything that haunted me about that place. After many breakdowns, I managed to get it all out and then we all fell asleep in a heap again. (We seem to be doing that a lot lately.)Once that was over I was much less scared of those memories.

They also told Chiron everything (traitors), who then told all the cabin counsellors. I remember finding out that they knew in the form of being dog piled in the middle of camp and then pulled into a hug by _Clarisse _of all people.

Nico had pulled me aside that day and used all his energy (and probably money from the amount of Happy Meals surrounding him) to summon the ghosts that haunted my mind. Silena, Beckendorf, Lee, Michael, Bianca, even Luke, who all told me that they didn't blame me for anything. Nevertheless I spluttered out apology after apology with tears running down my face. Once they had left, I carried an unconscious Nico back to his cabin and they hadn't haunted my dreams since.

I also haven't had any flashbacks during the day, which is a massive relief.

The bullying stopped bothering me when all the people at school started avoiding me and I could enjoy the lovely artwork on my locker in peace.

Now, however, the last horror left to play on my mind seemed to be taking over like it used to when I was little.

I stretched and moved from my position on the bed before getting ready for the day ahead. My nightmare kept dancing behind my eyelids but I knew as soon as my friends drag me to whatever activity we have today I'll forget all about it. Unless, of course, something happens in the course of the day to pull me into any sort of flashback, then I would probably remember.

_I just jinxed myself didn't I?_

Shaking that thought from my head with a shiver, I jumped outside, all too eager to see the people who are currently keeping me sane.

I slipped into the dining hall and took my seat at my table. I conjured my food and glanced up, scanning for my friends.

_Wow, I sound really clingy._

There was a moment, where I pulled away from them, simply because I thought I was getting really clingy. My nightmares had gotten worse during that week and I thought it was worth it because they should be happy to have some time to themselves. I was wrong (of course) and I soon had five incredibly worried friends and one ridiculously hysterical girlfriend literally smashing down my door in the morning and reassuring me that, no, I wasn't too clingy. They just want me to be alright.

I'm getting off track.

Anyways, I scanned the room for them and found Annabeth at her table, staring at me with a small smile. I grinned back, signalling I was okay. I then looked to the next table where Piper was desperately trying to ignore all her siblings.

"Help me." She mouthed to me and I just rolled my eyes at her, earning a glare.

Hazel and Frank were visiting but they were sitting on the newly placed 'Roman' table. It was introduced when the Romans were forced to spend time with us Greeks and there were people who absolutely refused to sit with their Greek siblings. There weren't many, but they were originally sitting on the ground and Jason and I decided we really should get them a table.

Anyway, Hazel and Frank were talking to Reyna (who was also visiting. I think they left Gwen and Dakota in charge.)

Leo wasn't sitting at the Hephaestus table but he wasn't hard to find as he was sitting next to Jason and talking his ears off. As Leo was talking about what seemed like nothing, Jason caught my eye and gave me the same silent question that he gave me every morning.

_Are you okay?_

I gave him a smile, a genuine one, and he seemed relieved.

I never really thought Jason and I would get close, especially not as close as we are. In fact, I thought that we would hate each other, simply because we used to be the perfect leaders in our own heads. I guess we got over that, though, and realised that we were both flawed leaders and we needed each other.

Oh gods, someone keep me on track please.

I got up and moved over to them. If Leo could get away with sitting at the wrong table, so could I.

"… and so Wilson turned into a dolphin and ran off into the woods!"

I paused where I was and stared at Leo, just as Jason did.

"Okay then…" I said slowly, sitting down. "I'm just not going to ask."

Jason just chose to ignore it.

"You look tired." He stated, looking concerned.

"Yeah, I had a nightmare." I said quietly, trying not to start a riot like last time someone heard me say that.

Both of them then shared a glance worriedly.

"I'm fine guys. It wasn't that bad."

They looked back at me and Jason opened his mouth to say something but he was interrupted by a scream.

It ripped through the air and for one terrifying moment, all the cabin counsellors looked at me.

_Really guys? Do I sound that high pitched when I scream?_

I took me all of a second to get up and run towards the sound, followed by the other cabin counsellors. Everyone behind me had their weapons out but for some reason I never drew Riptide. Racing to the hill, we all stopped when we saw the young girl, no more than 5, yelling at who must have been her protector. She was curled in on herself as much as she could be while pushing herself backwards. And then I knew why I didn't draw Riptide.

_I know that scream._

It had come out of my own mouth many a time when I was only a little older than this little lady. For a second, her form changed into that of a small boy. A boy with black hair and a shuddering form, curled in a ball as if to protect himself from pain.

I turned around to see the counsellors behind me looking confused, retracting their weapons but not putting them away. Annabeth pushed her way to my shoulder, placing one hand on my shoulder, looking to me for the game plan.

"She won't stop screaming." Her protector had moved over to us now, all the while keeping an eye on her. "I don't understand. She won't let anyone get near her."

Another flash swept across my sight, this time of a looming figure with a sinister grin.

_Stop screaming!_

I shook my head a little, clearing my mind all the while trying to conceal it from my friends.

_No! I need to help._

"Don't worry." I murmured softly to him, clapping his shoulder as I slowly moved past him to the little girl.

"Be careful." I heard from behind me, but whoever said it, I don't know.

About a metre away from her I stopped and bobbed down.

"Hey." I said softly. She whipped her head up to me and began to hyperventilate. Thinking back to when I was on her side, I thought of what I would have wanted to hear. Unfortunately, thinking of that brought more memories to the front of my mind.

_Go. Away._

"I'm not going to hurt you. You are safe here. I promise."

Her little head lifted a little more, this time very hesitant.

"This whole place is filled with people like you. They may not have been through the same thing as you but everyone here has had a hard time at one point or other. No one here is going to hurt you." I continued, slowly nearing her. Her face looked so hopeful, it was heartbreaking. Suddenly her little mouth opened and her small voice came out.

"You promise?" Her voice was so soft I barely heard it.

In response I reached my hand out to her, in a fist.

"I will make the most serious promise I can." I said with a completely serious face. When she finally looked me in the eye, I slowly extended my pinkie .

"If I ever break my promise, may my pinkie be cut off." I stated in a serious tone, delighting in the fact that it made her laugh. She extended her own pinkie to mine and liked them together, before crawling over to me.

I reached under her arms and lifted her as I stood, holding her on my hip.

"Now, what's your name sweetie?" I asked her softly as I slowly made my way to the other campers.

"Charlie." She responded just as softly as me.

"I'm Percy."

As we neared the others, she hid her face in my neck, prompting me to rub her back soothingly.

"They're okay. They won't hurt you." I whispered and came to a stop in front of them.

"Guys, this is Charlie. Charlie, these are the people who will be looking after you." I tried to introduce them but Charlie only pulled away from me for a second to throw them a glance before hugging me again.

Chuckling, I set her down on her feet and led her over to her protector.

"This is your protector Charlie." I said to her, kneeling down next to her. "He may look a little scary but he is the one who brought you here so you could be safe. He is going to show you around now, okay. I need to go to a meeting."

While I was talking, I prompted her into taking the satyr's hand.

"I'll see you later." I promised her and she was led away, into the camp.

As I turned around, the repressed flashes came back with a force.

"_You are useless." The man growled at a boy curled in the corner, aiming a kick at his ribs._

I raised my hand to my face, trying to block it out.

_Just hold out until tonight. Please. Please._

Of course, that didn't work and more and more images attacked my mind, making me stumble.

_A fist. A bruise. A bottle. A foot. Pain. More pain. Please. Please stop._

I could vaguely hear some people calling out to me but before I could make a sound, the visions overtook me and I felt myself falling as reality left me.

**POINT OF VIEW CHANGE. JASON'S POINT OF VIEW.**

We all watched in silence as Percy linked pinkies with the small girl and lifted her onto his hip before moving towards us. We were all stunned at how quickly he had managed to calm the traumatised girl down.

He introduced us to Charlie, who only spared us one small, frightened glance, and then handed her to her protector, promising her that he would see her soon.

There was nothing strange about any of that. Percy has always been better than all of us with children and was affectionately known as 'Big Brother Percy' by all the littlies and some older campers here.

What was strange was the flinch that took over his face as he turned around. Strange was also when he stopped and covered his eyes with one hand and when he stumbled backwards.

"Percy?" Annabeth called to him, starting forward while sharing a glance with the rest of us. When he didn't respond, we all started to move towards him quickly. As we did, he swayed dangerously before beginning to fall.

I jumped forward and caught him around his waist, lowering him to the ground and resting him on the grass. He wasn't still. He thrashed around a bit, flinching and occasionally crying out.

Without a word, the rest of the Seven came and kneeled next to him while the counsellors created a human force field, blocking any curious camper from seeing their leader like this.

Annabeth stroked his face and hair, softly whispering in his ear, reassuring him that he wasn't alone. Everyone else was silently looking at each other, frowning in worry.

_Why didn't he tell us he was still having flashbacks?_

After a few more minutes, he stilled and opened his eyes slowly. For a moment he was disorientated, looking around a bit.

"Percy?" I said softly, touching his shoulder, he slowly turned his head to me.

"Jase?" He slurred back before trying to sit up. I quickly helped him, supporting his back. Annabeth took his hands and everyone kept silent while his mind caught up with his surroundings.

"I blacked out, didn't I?" He questioned after a moment and received a very serious nod from Annabeth. He groaned and slung his arm around my shoulders and I lifted him to his feet, as per the procedure we worked out when he had these constantly. Then, as a massive group, we trudged down to the Big House and took over the meeting room silently.

"Percy," Annabeth started, taking his hand gently. "Why didn't you tell us you were having flashbacks again?"

"Were we forcing you too much?" Piper added in. "Did we make it uncomfortable to speak to us?"

"Was it because we told everyone else?" I asked, looking at everybody who wasn't told by Percy first hand.

"No, guys, I haven't been avoiding talking to you at all. This was the first flashback I've had in months." Percy interrupted our speculating and turned his hand over to hold Annabeth's hand properly.

"Then what was that?" Clarisse burst out, obviously too worried (though she would never say that out loud) to wait any longer.

"It was triggered by something." He answered simply, his hand that was not occupied fidgeting with his sweater.

"What something? And don't lie, I know you know." Annabeth asked sternly, giving him no choice.

"…"

"Sorry, what was that?" Annabeth frowned, leaning in.

"…"

"Speak up, Percy." She sighed, scooting closer to him again."

"Charlie." He sort of yelled out before trying to stare a hole in the table.

For a moment it was silent again.

"What do you mean 'Charlie'?" I asked slowly.

"I mean, I recognised her. But not actually her, more the way she was acting. And it triggered some memories." Percy explained in his disjointed way.

"And what it triggered? Have you thought about it before?" I insisted, leaning forward more.

"Of course I have. It's been haunting me for ages." He was getting agitated now and therefore getting less careful with his answers.

"And what is it? Is it Tartatus again? Or their deaths?" I pushed. I was getting warning looks now, but it was the only way we were going to get an answer.

He just shook his head, still looking at the table.

"Well then? What was it?"

"It was exactly what Charlie was scared of. To someone who hasn't gone through the same thing, it's hard to recognise. It could be mistaken as simple fear but it's not. It's so much more complicated. She was genuinely scared of people because one of the people in her life that was supposed to love her didn't and inflicted harm on her. Seeing her like that, and terrified of everyone, triggered the memory."

As he was speaking, I could feel this growing sense of dread making its home in the pit of my stomach.

"What are you saying?" Hazel asked softly. Her face seemed to have paled.

"I had a step-father before Paul. His name was Gabe and he wasn't the nicest person in the world. He didn't like me all that much and I'm pretty sure calling him 'Smelly Gabe' didn't help but he used to just be an asshole. But he escalated from an asshole and he… he…"

"He hurt you." Annabeth breathed from his side. For a moment it was still before noise suddenly erupted and everyone seemed to either grab onto Percy or swear revenge at the top of their lungs.

I was the first to yank Percy from Annabeth's stunned grip into a crushing hug before he was yanked away again by Piper. Eventually all of the Seven were practically in a heap on top of Percy.

"Guys, stop it! I'm fine." He yelled over everyone, managing to silence the entire room.

"You are not fine!" Annabeth moved out of his grip where she had managed to wiggle her way into. "He hurt you! Not only physically but now he haunts your life! That is not fine, Percy!" She was on the verge of tears and I was honestly surprised she hadn't started crying yet.

"Alright, I'm not fine yet. But I will be." Percy squirmed out of our grip and stood before everyone. "I know I'll be fine because, whether I want it or not, you will all be there whenever I need you and sometimes when I don't. So can you all please calm down."

It worked and we all managed to calm ourselves down in a few seconds.

"Okay. Okay Percy, we will let this go for the moment but before we do there is one thing we need." Clarisse started. "Where is this man so we can go murder him?"

We all nodded to each other, ready to torture the man who dared to hurt one of the nicest people on earth.

To our surprise, Percy chuckled.

"No need for that, guys. He's gone."

That brought about a whole lot of confusion and Percy sighed, getting ready to explain.

"Annabeth, you know that package I sent to the gods when we were twelve?" When she nodded he continued. "Well, the gods returned it when I got back from that quest and Gabe had just kicked me out, so I was packing my stuff. I also found out that Gabe hadn't just hit me, he hit Mum as well," At this, everyone growled.

_Who the fuck does he think he is._

"Anyways, I got really angry and told Mum I could take care of it but she told me that she had to face her own problems and so I gave her the package." With this Percy winked at Annabeth and she burst out laughing.

"I'm confused." Leo muttered.

"When we were twelve, Percy sent the gods Medusa's head." Annabeth choked out and suddenly everything made sense. Then everyone was laughing.

"Your mother is badass!" Travis laughed, hi-fiving his brother.

As we all settled down, the door burst open and a little ball of energy flung itself at Percy.

"Percy, Percy, Percy!" Charlie screeched as she latched on to his leg. "This place is AWESOME!" She laughed and he bent down to pick her up. When she was safely balanced on his hip, she started rambling again.

"We went and saw the stables and there are horses that can fly! Can you believe it? And then we saw all the cabins and this harp thingy appeared over my head!" She laughed and Percy laughed with her.

"A harp thingy you say? Well that means your Will's sister!" He exclaimed, looking at Will from the corner of his eye.

"Really? I have a brother?" Her eyes lit up and she started squirming in his arms.

Percy laughed loudly and took her over to Will.

"This is Will and he is your older brother. He isn't going to hurt you, coz he's a doctor. No doctors hurt people." He said and she nodded in earnest before jumping out of his arms and standing in front of Will.

"Hi! I'm Charlie and I am your sister." She rambled off and Will reached down to grab her hand, laughing.

"Hi Charlie. Why don't you come with me and I'll explain some things to you, okay." With that, he began to lead her through the door. But as he opened the door, Charlie suddenly stopped and through herself back into the room and launched herself at Percy's legs.

"Thank you Big Brother Percy!" She exclaimed before running out with Will.

It's hard to imagine that someone so nice, that someone so _good_, could have been hurt so badly for no reason at all than for someone else's _entertainment_. And that goes for both Percy and Charlie.

You see some monsters aren't mythical and some bad things aren't brought about by the gods.

But looking into his face at that moment and seeing the joy on the small girls face brought about a revelation that made the same smile grace my face.

They will be ok.


	3. AN

**A/N: Ok, guys. I have kinda run out of juice for this collection of one-shots, so I have decided to put it on hold for a little while until I get some ideas in my currently empty head. Any requests are accepted and I WILL write them, I promise.**

**In other news, another random idea had popped into my head for a multi-chapter story that I will be starting soon. Hopefully it will get the juices flowing.**

**It will be called 'The Beginning of a Bromance' and it will be an All Human Jercy friendship story about how the hate each other but end up as best friends (cliché, I know, but I want to write it so…)**

**Please tell me what you think about my idea and, again, requests are still accepted.**


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